Chapter 130: The Power to Disintegrate Everything
Golden light bloomed, as if everything in the world had frozen in this single instant.
This was the second time!
In the line of sight of everyone present, near or far, only a single beam of golden light remained.
That light did not shine from one direction and shoot toward another; it simply appeared. One second, the night was dark and moonlight bathed the earth, and the next, the space between heaven and earth was entirely filled by that golden light.
The golden beam shot straight out from Uchiha Taiga's palm, piercing through the dark blue Susanoo, piercing through Uchiha Madara's body, and piercing through the night sky, extending all the way to the horizon with no end in sight.
Wherever the golden light touched, everything lost its original color, leaving only gold.
Even though Uchiha Madara was vigilant and prepared, and his Rinnegan had caught the beam the moment it appeared, his body had started to move to evade the instant the light shot out.
But the golden light appeared far too fast—so fast that even his Rinnegan could not track its trajectory.
There was only the result, no process.
He couldn't believe that this golden light would instantly pierce through the Susanoo, and even through himself.
His eyes widened, his pupils shrinking to the extreme, his face full of disbelief.
Wherever the golden light reached, everything disintegrated.
The chakra armor on the dark blue Susanoo began to melt the moment the golden light touched it, like ice evaporating under intense heat, turning from solid to gas before vanishing into the air.
The exposed flesh beneath the armor—the muscles and chakra pathways formed from chakra—were equally defenseless under the golden light. They disintegrated one after another, turning into scattered chakra fragments.
Finally, the skeleton. The dark blue skeletal frame lasted less than a split second under the golden light before shattering from the point of impact. Cracks spread in all directions as the skeleton began to collapse.
The golden light shifted slightly upward, moving from the waist toward the top of the head.
As the golden light moved, the colossal Perfect Susanoo was sliced diagonally in two. The upper and lower halves separated, the cut as smooth as a mirror. There were no explosions or shockwaves, only a silent disintegration.
Uchiha Madara, situated in the forehead of the Susanoo, suffered the same fate. He was also cleaved in two.
His body was severed at the waist, upper and lower halves separating. The dust of his Reanimated body flew from the incision, turning to nothingness within the golden light.
Madara's astonishment was still frozen on his face.
His eyes were wide open, his mouth slightly agape, and his expression locked in that moment, as if finding it utterly inconceivable.
He had never imagined he would be defeated in such a manner.
By the time he regained his senses, he realized his current predicament.
His body, in its Reanimation Jutsu state, had been sliced down the middle. His upper and lower halves were separated, floating in the air.
Reanimation dust rose from the cut, the fine fragments scattering in the wind. A few pieces touched the residual golden light and were instantly annihilated, leaving not even dust behind.
He could feel his own condition; his state of infinite chakra had been broken.
The limitless chakra regeneration granted to him by the Reanimation Jutsu vanished the moment that golden light passed through his body.
The chakra within him was draining away, pouring out like a breached dam.
He didn't know what was missing from his body, only that he wasn't sure if his Reanimated state could still recover.
Only now did time seem to resume.
An ear-piercing screech erupted from the battlefield, its frequency so high it was unbearable.
The sound didn't come from the golden light itself, but from the ultra-high-frequency vibration produced when the light pierced the Susanoo.
The soundwave expanded outward from the battlefield. Wherever it passed, the air trembled, gravel on the ground bounced, and the earth itself shook.
Even Tsunade and the other two, despite being far away, all showed expressions of agony upon hearing the screech.
Blood flowed from Shizune's ears. She covered them with her hands, crouching on the ground as her body trembled violently.
Yugito Nii's face turned pale. She gritted her teeth, veins bulging on her forehead, but she did not fall.
Tsunade clutched her chest, swayed, and then collapsed.
She lay on the ground, gasping for air, every breath accompanied by a sharp pain in her chest. Traces of blood seeped from her skin, oozing from her pores—the sonic wave had ruptured her capillaries.
Shizune also collapsed, lying beside Tsunade, panting heavily.
Yugito Nii held on for a few seconds before finally dropping to one knee under the continuous assault of the screech. She supported herself with one hand on the ground and covered her ear with the other, her face contorted.
Blood also seeped from her skin, but it was much lighter than Tsunade and Shizune's. The constitution of a Jinchuriki proved its worth in this moment.
The screech lasted for several seconds before gradually weakening and finally disappearing.
The condition of Tsunade's trio slowly recovered after the screech vanished.
Tsunade pushed herself up from the ground, panting heavily, and wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand. She looked up toward the battlefield, her gaze passing through the lingering dust and scattering chakra fragments to land where the two Susanoo stood.
Uchiha Madara's dark blue Susanoo had already begun to dissipate. Starting from the edges, like a sandcastle blown away by the wind, it slowly turned into chakra fragments that drifted into the air.
The armor vanished first, then the flesh and meridians, and finally the skeleton.
The hundred-meter-tall dark blue giant slowly faded under the moonlight, turning into countless tiny specks of light that floated in the air like fireflies for a moment before completely disappearing.
Uchiha Madara fell from midair.
As his two halves plummeted, they each kicked up a peculiar dust—the dust of the Reanimation Jutsu, glowing with a faint blue light under the moon.
The two halves struggled between regeneration and destruction.
The severed parts tried to reconnect, and the dust attempted to fill the wound, but every time they barely linked, they split open again.
The wound left by the golden light seemed to carry some residual power that prevented the Reanimated body from healing itself.
Seeing this, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on Tsunade's bloodstained face.
Her eyes lit up, the corners of her mouth rising into a smile that looked exceptionally striking amidst the blood and dirt.
That man—the man who had been defeated by her grandfather, the legendary ninja—was defeated. Defeated by a fourteen-year-old boy.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Taiga's pale gold Susanoo was also slowly disappearing.
The golden armor receded from the giant's body like an ebbing tide, the process calm and slow.
Disappearing alongside it was the pale gold chakra flame covering Uchiha Taiga's body. The aura of light enveloping him went from blazing to dim, from dim to faint, and finally extinguished completely.
At the same time, his eyes exited the Incomplete Tenseigan state, reverting back to the Byakugan.
White irises, white pupils, just as before.
However, two trails of bloody tears flowed simultaneously from his eye sockets. Blood seeped from the corners of his eyes, running down his cheeks to gather at his chin before dripping onto the ground.
Looking closely, it wasn't hard to see that Uchiha Taiga had expended a massive amount of energy. His face was pale, his breathing slightly ragged, his chest heaving.
He raised a hand, wiped the blood from the corner of his eye with a finger, glanced at the red on his fingertip, and then lowered his hand.
Fortunately, his condition hadn't changed much. He could still see, and his vision hadn't deteriorated. He had merely overdrawn his visual prowess, meaning his eyes wouldn't be able to enter the Tenseigan state again for a short while.
"Hahahaha, that felt great!"
Only now did Uchiha Taiga throw his head back and laugh heartily. Then, letting out a long breath, he stepped forward and walked toward Uchiha Madara's position.